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Foundry Networks Extends MPLS To The Access Edge With Compact MPLS Metro Access Switch Family

NetIron® M2404 Metro Access Switch Family Enables Unified MPLS Infrastructure for Superior Service Availability, Sub-50ms Traffic Protection and End-to-End Customer SLA Enforcement

SAN JOSE, Calif. - (June 5, 2006) – Foundry Networks®, Inc. (Nasdaq: FDRY), a performance and total solutions leader for end-to-end switching and routing, today announced the NetIron M2404 Series MPLS-enabled Metro Access Switches at GLOBALCOMM Chicago 2006 and Interop Tokyo 2006. These new cost effective Metro Ethernet switches are purpose-built for service versatility, scalability, and manageability, all in a compact moveable one rack unit (1RU) form factor.

The NetIron M2404 offers wire-rate forwarding, advance MPLS-based Carrier Ethernet features, and advanced bandwidth management in a cost-effective and compact package.   The NetIron M2404 switch family includes both fiber and RJ-45 copper configurations. The NetIron M2404 allows advanced Service Level Agreement (SLA) enforcement with Hierarchical Quality of Service (QoS), resilient sub-50ms service recovery time and comprehensive Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) and EFM OAM capabilities. Theses capabilities make the NetIron M2404 the most versatile solution for metro access applications, such as FTTx, ETTx, MTU, Wireless backhaul and multi-play service delivery that are in high demand.

"Combining Ethernet's scalability with MPLS functionality for differentiated IP based services is a winning combination for carriers and their customers, forming the basis for next generation wireline networking, "said John Mazur, Research Director, Carrier Network Infrastructure, Gartner.  "Service Level Agreement (SLA) functionality and compliance improve as the MPLS Provider Edge moves closer to the customer. Multi-Tenant Unit (MTU) devices with these capabilities are a logical choice to provide end-users with business-class services and stringent SLAs."

NetIron M2404 Metro Access Switches, together with the NetIron MLX Metro Routers and NetIron XMR Core Routers, are the key components of Foundry's market leading Carrier Ethernet solutions.  Foundry's end-to-end MPLS-enabled Carrier Ethernet solutions deliver:

  • Significantly increased service scalability with Hierarchical VPLS (H-VPLS) architecture
  • Higher service availability with end-to-end sub-50ms MPLS Fast Reroute (FRR)
  • Increased service security with end-to-end pseudo-wire and VPLS L2VPNs
  • Optimized bandwidth management with end-to-end MPLS Traffic Engineering
  • Increased converged network infrastructure unified by one standard technology

The NetIron M2404 is available in two configurations; the M2404F switch is configured with 24 100baseX SFP fiber ports, two GbE combo ports and two enhanced GbE uplink ports, while the M2404C switch is configured with 24 10/100 RJ-45 copper ports, two GbE combo ports and two enhanced GbE uplink ports. The M2404F SFP ports supports both 100baseFX and 100baseBX optics, which makes it a perfect solution for Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) application. Both M2404F and M2404C switches support redundant AC/DC power supplies for increased hardware redundancy and are NEBS Level 3 and ETSI compliant.

The NetIron M2404 switches offer a suite of comprehensive service-enabling features. MPLS Traffic Engineering and MPLS Fast Reroute features enable providers to ensure optimal end-to-end service delivery and guarantee sub-50ms service recovery. Hierarchical VPLS, MPLS pseudo-wire and QinQ tunneling features gives providers the flexibility to offer scalable point-to-point, multipoint-to-multipoint and any-to-any VPN services. Hierarchical QOS scheduling, traffic policing and shaping features offer providers the ability to deliver advanced service level agreements. IGMP snooping and Multicast VLAN Registration (MVR) features enable providers to efficiently deliver multi-play services such as video, voice and data. For network and subscriber security, the NetIron M2404 switches support wire-speed security ACLs and 802.1x port authentication features. Lastly, to help providers simplify end-to-end service operations and management, the NetIron M2404 delivers a rich set of operations, administration and management (OAM) capabilities including support for the 802.3ah EFM OAM, 802.1ag CFM (Connectivity Fault Management) and MEF OAM standards.

"The compact NetIron M2404 switches are purpose-built for the Metro access edge with advanced IP and MPLS capabilities," said Ken Cheng, Vice President and General Manager, High-End and Service Provider Products Business Unit for Foundry Networks.  "The versatility provided by the NetIron M2404 will enable providers to deliver Metro differentiated services cost effectively with superior availability, scalability and performance." 

Availability and Pricing
The NetIron M2404 Metro Access Switch Series will be available in August 2006. Pricing starts at $9,495.

The NetIron M2404 Series Metro Access Switches will be demonstrated at the Foundry booth in GLOBALCOMM Chicago June 5 through June 7, 2006 and Network Interop Tokyo June 6 through June 9, 2006.

About Foundry Networks

Foundry Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FDRY) is a leading provider of high-performance enterprise and service provider switching, routing, security and Web traffic management solutions, including Layer 2/3 LAN switches, Layer 3 Backbone switches, Layer 4-7 application switches, wireless LAN and access points, metro routers and core routers. Foundry's customers include the world's premier ISPs, metro service providers, and enterprises, including e-commerce sites, universities, entertainment, health and wellness, government, financial and manufacturing companies. For more information about the company and its products, call 1.888.TURBOLAN or visit www.foundrynet.com.

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